eBay/PayPal ring up profit

Skype revs up too

Online auctioneer eBay grew revenues by 31 per cent to $1.45bn in the third quarter ended 30 September 2006.

Net income for the three months was $281m. The site posted 584m new listings in the period, up 27 per cent on the same period last year. In total the successfully closed auctions raised $12.6bn in Gross Merchandise Volume for eBay users - up 17 per cent on $10.8bn raised in the third quarter of 2005.

Payment service PayPal brought in revenues of $350m, up 41 per cent on the third quarter of 2005. There are 123m PayPal accounts. Total Payment Volume using the service grew 37 per cent to $9.1bn.

Voice over Internet Protocol phone service Skype increased users by 20 per cent to 113m. Revenues were $50m, an increase of 13 per cent from the second quarter of 2006.

For the whole financial year eBay expects to bring in consolidated net revenues of between $5.87bn and $5.93bn. Earnings per share are expected to be in the range of $0.75 and $0.76.